Greens senator accused of inappropriate behaviour around women blasts 'allegations of allegations'

Read the original at Daily Mail ↗
Cite

Aldred, M. (2026, October 24). Greens senator accused of inappropriate behaviour around women blasts 'allegations of allegations'. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16234525/jordon-steele-john-greens-leave-investigation-allegations-parliament.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-10-24 · by Max Aldred

Quick Summary

Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has taken leave from parliament due to pressure over an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior towards women between 2017 and 2025. He denies wrongdoing and criticizes the process as unfair, stating he was effectively barred from parliamentary duties by mere allegations rather than concrete complaints. The dispute escalated when Steele-John's party leader, David Shoebridge, announced that Steele-John would be on leave, a claim Steele-John denied, accusing Shoebridge of trying to oust him from the partyroom. Seven Greens members demanded an investigation into Steele-John’s conduct in a letter to Senator Shoebridge.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-24, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Jordon Steele-John, a Greens senator for Western Australia, will not attend Parliament next week following public allegations of inappropriate behavior towards women between 2017 and 2025. Seven current and former party staffers wrote to the new Greens leader, David Shoebridge, requesting an independent investigation into Steele-John's conduct. The accusations have led to a conflict within the party; despite denying wrongdoing, Steele-John agreed to take leave to focus on the impending inquiry. This situation mirrors previous instances where the Greens have faced similar allegations, often leading them to protect their members and restrict inquiries.

Written for “Jordon SteeleJohn Allegations Controversy” on 2026-10-24, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.30, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 103407: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-24

Story

📰 Jordon SteeleJohn Allegations Controversy
Politics · 4 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 12% hedged 4 of 34 📰 publisher trust 61
“Both articles discuss the same Greens senator, Jordon Steele-John, facing allegations of inappropriate behavior towards women and his response to an independent investigation.”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 15% hedged 3 of 20 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe Jordon Steele-John's decision to take leave from parliament in response to allegations of misconduct, citing the same time period and actions.”
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 15 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles report Senator Jordon Steele-John's decision to not attend parliament due to allegations of inappropriate behavior and the impending investigation.”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 13% hedged 3 of 23 📰 publisher trust 66
“While both articles discuss Jordon Steele-John's allegations of inappropriate behavior, they describe different aspects or stages of the incident and its aftermath.”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 14 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A reports on David Shoebridge's response to Jordon Steele-John’s statement, while Article B covers Steele-John taking leave from parliament and responding to misconduct allegations. These describe related but distinct events occurring at different times.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right 🔴 6% hedged 2 of 32 📰 publisher trust 64
“While both articles discuss Senator Jordon Steele-John facing allegations of inappropriate behavior, they describe different stages of the incident: Article A covers the initial reaction to the allegations and Steele-John's denial, while Article B reports on his taking leave from parliament in response to pressure surrounding an investigation.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 32 📰 publisher trust 61
“While both articles discuss Jordon Steele-John's situation within the Greens party, they describe different points in time and different actions: Article A is about Shoebridge insisting Steele-John takes leave during an investigation, while Article B is about Steele-John taking leave himself due to pressure from the probe.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
64/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-24 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 7213 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Max Aldred
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The WA senator said he would heed a 'growing chorus' opposing his appearing on Senate estimates committees next week.
🔮 The matter was referred to the Department of Public Prosecutions and will next be heard on October 28.
🔮 A High Court ruling has been handed down that is set to have wide-ranging consequences for miners and investors, as it is celebrated by environmentalists.
🔮 A second state has leapt to defend its neighbour's decision to outlaw protest slogans, as activists say the move plays right into their hands and will make the issue national.
🔮 Further investigations would attempt to uncover who fired a shot, he said.
🔮 He will face Midland Magistrates Court later on Thursday.
🔮 - See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source A man accused of verbally abusing a young Muslim schoolgirl on a bus will face court.
Also by Max Aldred
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Max Aldred →

Topics

Greens Nine Newspapers Senate the WA Greens

Subjects

Steele-John PERSON · 8× Greens ORG · 5× Shoebridge PERSON · 4× David Shoebridge PERSON · 2× Jordon Steele-John PERSON · 2× Larissa Waters PERSON · 1× Nine Newspapers ORG · 1× Senate ORG · 1× the WA Greens ORG · 1×

Narrative

Senator Steele-John maintained he was not on self-imposed leave, despite a statement from party leader David Shoebridge (pictured) saying he was Senator Steele-John accused him of trying to oust him from the partyroom. Senator Shoebridge understood there had been an agreement Senator Steele-John would take leave, a spokesperson for the Greens leader said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-24
🔮 The WA senator said he would heed a 'growing chorus' opposing his appearing on Senate estimates committees next week.

Claims (17 extracted, 1 hedged)

A Greens senator is taking leave from parliament, saying pressure surrounding a misconduct probe has left him 'kept out by allegations of allegations'. asserted
pressure → take → allegations
Jordon Steele-John faces an independent investigation into several allegations surrounding inappropriate behaviour toward women between 2017 and 2025. asserted
John → face → 2017
He has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. asserted
He → deny → wrongdoing
The WA senator said he would heed a 'growing chorus' opposing his appearing on Senate estimates committees next week. asserted
his → say → committees
'I have decided not to return next week and will instead focus on the independent and timely investigation I hope is soon commenced by the Greens WA,' he said in a statement on Friday night. asserted
he → decide → night
Senator Steele-John said he would have immediately withdrawn from parliament 'had an allegation or complaint been made against me'. asserted
allegation → say → me
'The precedent has now been set: any MP can be kept out of parliament by allegations of allegations,' he said. asserted
he → set → allegations
Tensions flared on Monday as Senator Steele-John maintained he was not on self-imposed leave, despite a statement from party leader David Shoebridge saying he was. asserted
he → flare → Shoebridge
Jordon Steele-John is taking leave from parliament, saying pressure surrounding a misconduct probe has left him 'kept out by allegations of allegations' asserted
pressure → take → allegations
Senator Steele-John maintained he was not on self-imposed leave, despite a statement from party leader David Shoebridge (pictured) saying he was Senator Steele-John accused him of trying to oust him from the partyroom. Senator Shoebridge understood there had been an agreement Senator Steele-John would take leave, a spokesperson for the Greens leader said. asserted
spokesperson → maintain → leader
'Senator Shoebridge remains of the opinion that leave is appropriate under the circumstances and reiterates that this in no way prejudges any of the matters being referred to an inquiry commissioned by the WA Greens,' the spokesperson said. asserted
spokesperson → remain → Greens
Senator Steele-John said the circumstances made it reasonable for people to assume he was guilty and claimed factionalism was at play. asserted
factionalism → say → play
Senator Shoebridge, who replaced Larissa Waters as leader in September, has also denied any prior knowledge of allegations about his colleague. asserted
who → replace → colleague
Seven Greens members demanded an investigation into Senator Steele-John's conduct in the presence of women in a letter penned to Senator Shoebridge and first reported by Nine Newspapers. asserted
members → demand → Newspapers
Senator Steele-John previously said the letter's authors had not outlined any allegations in detail but vowed to participate in any investigation into specific incidents. asserted
authors → say → incidents
He claimed it was no coincidence the letter was written the day after the party agreed on a timeline for the next preselection. asserted
party → claim → preselection
He denied any knowledge of an alleged instance of sexual harassment at a 2024 Greens campaign event, saying 'I don't know how I could respond, or how anyone would begin to investigate it'. uncertain
anyone → deny → it
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support